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Lordco founder mourned

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Lordco founder Edward W. Coates passed away on Monday, after a short, “courageous” battle with cancer.

Coates was co-founder of Lordco Auto Parts, which maintains its head office in Maple Ridge.

He was also a husband, father, grandfather, a loyal friend and a” highly respected” business leader, according to information released this week on the Lordco website.

The company was incorporated in August 1974, by its two founding members, Roy Lord and Ed Coates. A combination of their surnames gave the company its name.

The Coates family, in a press release issued late Wednesday afternoon, said he “passed away peacefully, with his family at his side.”

They added Coates was a “true pioneer in his industry, a visionary and a born leader.”

Coates guided all four of his children, Samantha, Sarah, Ian, and Candace, as they started with Lordco, and progressed through to key roles in the company.

Coates was born on June 23, 1948, in New Westminster, the second son of five children.

In the early 1970s, he and Marlyn owned and operated the Derby Drive-In in Fort Langley, where Ed would flip burgers at night, while selling parts during the day for Walker’s, “all the while working towards his dream of establishing his own company.”

Now the company Coates co-founded has 97 locations throughout B.C.

“The automotive industry has lost a true original who built a unique business model that will be emulated for years to come,” said the release.

 â€œAlthough Ed has left us far too soon, he has touched innumerable lives along his journey,” said a spokesperson for the family. “He will live in our memories forever.”

At the family’s request, details of the memorial ceremony are being kept private and will not be made public.